American Airlines mechanic jailed for hiding cocaine hidden under cockpit of New York-bound flight

A former American Airlines mechanic has been jailed for nearly a decade for smuggling cocaine into the US . Paul Belloisi hid 10 bricks of cocaine under the cockpit of a flight bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The 56-year-old from Smithtown, New York was outed as the inside man for the smuggling scheme and will spend nine years behind bars for his role in a conspiracy to import and possess cocaine worth a quarter of a million.

Paul Belloisi " put personal gain before the safety of the aviation industry " and "abused his position," according to one special agent.

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On February 4, 2020, American Airlines flight 1349 arrived at JFK Airport’s Terminal 8 from Montego Bay, Jamaica. The aircraft was subject to a routine search by CBP officers .

Ten bricks of cocaine weighing 25.56 pounds were found hidden inside an electronics compartment on the underside of the cockpit. The cocaine was replaced with fake bricks and sprayed with a substance that glows when illuminated with a special black light.

The aircraft was placed under surveillance from a distance and shortly before it was scheduled to take off for its next flight, they observed Belloisi drive up and pull himself inside the electronics compartment.

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Belloisi was confronted by law enforcement who observed his gloves glowing under the black light indicating he had handled the fake bricks.

Belloisi was also carrying an empty tool bag and the lining of his jacket had cut-outs sufficiently large enough to hold the bricks. The cocaine found in the aircraft had a street value of more than $250,000 .

“The defendant abused his insider position at JFK Airport to help smuggle more than 25 pounds of cocaine into the US in a highly sensitive electronics compartment of an international aircraft,” said United States Attorney Peace.

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"Today’s sentence demonstrates that the government takes these threats very seriously , and those who work in trusted positions at our airports... must know that they face serious consequences for crimes of corruption.”

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